The US health regulators have accepted and filed for review Cell Therapeutics Inc’s application seeking marketing approval for its experimental drug to treat a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system. The FDA has designated a standard review for pixantrone as a treatment for relapsed, aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the company said.

A new study that compared the newer drug, letrozole, to the widely used tamoxifen found that the former was more effective. The study confirmed that survival rates for postmenopausal women, who are suffering from breast cancer and have undergone surgery, taking letrozole (Femara) are higher than that taking tamoxifen. Both letrozole and tamoxifen have been used to prevent recurrence of breast cancer in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive cancer.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd began selling a generic injectable version of Eloxatin, a chemotherapy drug, after the approval of the FDA. The oxaliplatin drug is available in 50 mg and 100 mg dosage. The US sales of Eloxatin totaled $1.3 billion in 2008 and the drug is approved to treat advanced colon cancer and stage III colon cancer following surgery.

The FDA has approved Genentech’s cancer treatment Avastin (bevacizumab) for kidney cancer. Avastin blocks new blood vessels from forming and supplying tumors with the nutrients they need to grow and spread to other parts of the body. This drug is already being used for the treatment of colorectal cancer, breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer and is being tested for the treatment of more than 30 tumor types.